French-Canadian Opposition to Conscription in 1917

French-Canadian Opposition to Conscription in 1917

HIE 208 Assignment #2 CPO1 Mike Magee

Mr. Lloyd Sherrard Due Date 24 May 2011

Introduction

Many historians believe that French-Canadians opposition to conscription in 1917 was based on an ethnic division between French and English Canadians, which originated in the 1880s. This ethnic division, however, dates back to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 and the Royal Proclamation in 1763. This paper will examine the history of French – English relations in Canada and how this impacted on the French-Canadian opposition to the draft at the end of the Great War.

The Military Service Act

David Lloyd George was elected Prime Minister of Britain deposing Herbert Asquith in 1916. His new coalition government had pledged wholeheartedly to win the war. Faced with a failing war effort, Lloyd George summoned all the dominion premiers to the first ‘Imperial War Cabinet” on the 2nd of March 1917. Given that the French army was on the verge of mutiny, Russia was collapsing, and the German U Boat campaign had severely cut-off supplies to Britain, Lloyd George stated that in order to win the war he must have more men. This, along with Canada’s recent success at Vimy Ridge, although it cost Canada 10,602 dead and wounded, convinced Robert Borden that the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) needed more men.

Borden abandoned his 1914 promise of an all volunteer contingent and on 18th of May 1917, and told Canadians of his government’s new policy under the Military Service Act (MSA), and on August 29th the Act was passed.

Opposition to the Military Service Act

Opposition to the MSA was not limited to French-Canadians, in truth, many English speaking farmers, union leaders, and pacifists opposed conscription. However, French Canada’s opposition was almost unanimous under Henri Bourassa. Bourassa felt that Canada had done enough and that it should not get involved in imperial demands, a feeling he...